


Hair Dye

by Jess4400



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Connieswap, F/M, I didn't know how to end this so I just defaulted to puns, I needed some fluff after that last story I posted, This is trash sorry lmao, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 14:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11150145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jess4400/pseuds/Jess4400
Summary: Steven finds some hair dye. Connie finds a confidant.*Set in the ConnieSwap Universe but not affiliated with it*





	Hair Dye

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, look, another Connieswap omake! This story is very dialogue heavy and awkward but I'm tired of revising. Here you go!

Steven sat on his bed, sorting though a box. He was about to put it aside until he noticed some smaller, colorful boxes smooshed at the bottom. Curiosity piqued, he pulled them out and inspected them. 

Oh. Hair dye. He figured it was from when his mom went through a hair-dying phase when he was around 11 years old. She tried every color under the sun, often buying multiples in case she liked a specific color. She got them at a discount store for half off, so he couldn’t blame her. Eventually, she settled with a dark brown that complemented her eyes. She’s rocked it ever since. He wondered what she was planning to do with these boxes that she hadn’t used. He ran downstairs, boxes stacked in his arms, and and yelled for her. Loudly.

“Moooooooooooom!” 

“Volume, Steven,” she chided with a smile, sneaking up behind him in the living room. Steven jumped.

“Ah! You scared me!” Steven huffed, hand over his heart in surprise.

“I can see that.” She laughed, then eyed the boxes. 

“Whatcha got there?” She asked suspiciously. Steven glanced at the items in his arms and perked up, remembering the reason he came downstairs.

“Oh, yeah! I was going to ask you if you needed these! I found them in one of my boxes.”

Mary grabbed a random box. She looked at the picture on the front and then returned the box to his full arms. 

“Nah. We can take them to GreatWill later. I’m good with my brown hair for now.”

Steven tilted his head, a mischievous grin making its way to his face. He had a plan. “Could I have them?”

Mary looked at him quizzically and shrugged. “I don’t care. Never thought you'd want to dye your hair, but I don’t mind. It’s temporary hair dye, so it’ll only last a couple weeks anyway. Go crazy, kid.”

Steven grinned even harder. He had to call Connie. This was gonna be great.

 

* * *

 

“So what’s this crazy plan of yours?” Connie asked as she observed the mess in Steven’s room. Steven grinned. 

“I’m glad you asked. You see, I was going through the last few boxes earlier and I found something I thought you'd like.”

“Really? What is it?”

The pair sat down in front of a large box. Steven reached into it and threw the hair dye boxes like confetti. “Ta-da!” 

He waited with bated breath for her reaction.

“Hair dye.” She said slowly.

“Yes!”

Connie tilted her head at Steven, eyes furrowed, and waited for an explanation. Steven took the hint and babbled on, slightly disappointed that she wasn’t excited. No matter, though. He could still save this!

“I um, found these hair dyes and I thought, ‘Connie and I should dye each other’s hair’ you know, for fun, and something to do. You’ve been kind of sad lately and I don’t like seeing you sad. Maybe something silly like this will cheer you up?” He scratched his head. Connie stared at him in shock, thinking. That was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard.

A few moments passed and Steven got the wrong impression. He panicked and tried to sweep the conversation under the rug.

“Ah, never mind, it was a dumb idea anyway. We can do something else. You wanna eat snacks and watch “Under the Kni-”

“No!” She interrupted. Let’s do it.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it before I change my mind.” Steven sighed. 

“You don’t have to do it just to humor me. I know you don’t want to. It’s okay. We can do something else.” He looked away, embarrassed.

“Steven, listen.” She swatted his arm. “I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions. It took me a minute to think about it because I’ve never thought about dying my hair before. It sounds fun. Let’s do it!”

“Really?” He asked, stars forming in his eyes.

“Really really,” she confirmed.

“Um, okay!” He gathered all the boxes together and set them at her feet. “Pick which one you want and we can get started?”

Connie nodded and browsed through her options. 

“Yellow?” She asked, holding up the box labeled ‘Sunflower.’

Steven snorted and quoted her advice from the other day. “You don’t have to be just like your parents, you know.” Connie rolled her eyes.

 “Don’t use the Mocking Spongebob meme on me.”

“Don’t use the Mocking Spongebob meme on me,” he mimicked in a silly voice.

Connie laughed and put the yellow aside. Although her mother was beautiful, she didn’t think she would enjoy resembling her more. It would make her even more sad, and that was kind of the opposite of what they were trying to accomplish here, wasn't it?

She handed a pink box to Steven. “How about this one?”

“No way! I call this one!” He exclaimed and held the box close to his chest. Connie snickered. “I should’ve known you’d pick pink. Its like, the only color you wear.”

Steven smiled and pointed finger guns at her. “You got me there.”

“Hmm,” Connie drawled, tapping her chin dramatically. “If not yellow or pink, what color should I pick?”

Steven studied their choices for a moment. 

“How about green?”

“No way, Peridot would never let me live that down.”

“Red?”

“Ew, no way. Too bold.”

“Purple?” Connie grabbed the box and grinned. 

“Hmm. I _do_ like it.”

“Yeah, that color would look super cute on you!” Steven gushed.

Connie blushed and stood up. “Then it’s decided. Starting today, I will have purple hair!”

Steven didn’t have the heart to tell her it was only temporary dye.

 

* * *

 

“So first, we need to change into some clothes we don’t care if they get paint on them. This stuff gets messy, trust me. I used to dye my mom’s hair all the time. Still do, actually.”

Connie nodded. “Sounds good, but there’s one problem. I didn’t bring any extra clothes.” Steven headed towards his drawer and pulled out a tie-dye shirt. It had a picture of the ‘Shaka’ sign on it and bubble letters underneath that said “hang loose.’ He handed it to her and she snickered. 

“Where’d you get this?” She asked as Steven looked through a drawer for a pair of shorts.

“I don’t really remember. Sometime at a concert, I think. It’s too small for me now. You can have it, if you want.”

Connie blushed. She might actually take him up on that offer. It was a cute shirt. ~~From a cute boy.~~ Focus, Mahaswaren.

He handed her a pair of ratty shorts and then grabbed an outfit for himself. 

“You can change in here, and I’ll change in the bathroom. Is that okay?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay,” he said, running out of the room. “I’ll be right back.”

 

* * *

 

 

Steven returned a minute later and knocked on the door. She finished changing and let him back in. He clapped his hands and rubbed them together mischievously.

“Alright! Who’s ready to dye?” Connie furrowed her eyebrows and snorted.

“Wow, Steven, that’s a morbid question.”

Steven smiled in response and opened up a couple trash bags. He placed them flat on the ground and sat on them.

“Why the trash bags?” Connie asked, already knowing the answer.

“So we don’t get dye on the carpet.” He replied.

“I see! Smart!”

Steven blushed and busied himself with opening up the two boxes to keep himself from saying anything stupid. Connie smiled and arranged the area according to what they would be using first. Steven removed the dyes from the opened boxes and started mixing them in the little plastic bowls they came in.

“Alright. So do you want to go first or do you want me to go first?”

Connie hummed. “You should probably dye my hair first so you can show me how to do it.”

Steven nodded and patted the spot in front of himself, inviting her to sit closer. Connie willed herself not to blush and plopped down awkwardly in front of him. Steven put on some plastic gloves and got to work, first brushing her hair.

“First, you gotta make sure all the tangles are out. You’re not tender-headed, are you?”

Connie winced as the brush snagged on a knot, which effectively answered Steven’s question.

“Sorry! I’ll try to be more gentle.” He glided the brush through her hair slowly, working out the knots with his hands. He eventually got through it all and sat the brush down in relief. 

“Wow, I think you may have more hair than me. I’m impressed!” Connie laughed.

“More hair than you? No way!”

“I’m starting to think so, at least.” He laughed too.

Getting serious again, started explaining the process. 

“First, you have to divide the hair into four sections, like this,” he explained, clipping each section with a barrette. “Then, you can start dying. Start with the roots, and work your way down.” A comfortable silence ensued as he painted Connie’s hair.

 

* * *

 

 

Finally, Steven tried to start up a conversation. 

"Hey. I was thinking..."

"What?"

“Since you always listen to me when I’m being broody, I think I should return the favor. What’s wrong?” Steven asked. Connie sighed. 

“I don’t know. I guess Hiddenite.”

“What is that?” 

‘H-I-D-D-E-N-I-T-E,’ she finger spelled slowly and out to the side so he could see. “Lapis and Peridot’s fusion. You saw her at the party. She wrecked the place.”

“Ohhh,” Steven replied. “I thought she was pretty cool! Don’t worry about the damage too much. We got it all taken care of.” 

“It’s not the literal mess they made that I’m worried about,” she started. “It’s more-so the figurative one. Peridot has been acting weird. Jasper and Lapis are no where to be found. I haven't slept well since the blowout. I just wish things would go back to normal.” She pulled her knees close and rested her head on top of them. She sighed.

“Maybe if my mom was here, this would’ve already been figured out.”

Steven stopped painting. 

“Well, if your mom was here right now, I wouldn’t have an awesome friend dying hair with me. I’m glad you’re here. You’ve made everything in my life like, ten times better since I met you. You're an amazing person.” 

Connie gave a small smile. “Thanks, Steven.”

“Plus,” he continued, “The whole reason they were fighting was because of your mom, yeah? If she were here, they would be arguing even more. Right?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” 

Connie smiled and turned around to Steven.

 “Let’s put aside this sad stuff for now. This is punk-rock hair time!”

Steven laughed and continued his work on her hair. They talked about various things, from her favorite book characters to Peridot’s plant experiments.

She made sure to ask any questions now, because she figured Steven would have to take out his hearing aids when it was his turn. Finally, he was finished.

“All done,” he said, taking off his gloves. He grabbed a plastic bag and wrapped it around her hair.

“This may look silly, but hear me out. This will keep the heat on your head and dye your hair quicker.” He set a timer for 30 minutes on his phone, then turned on the tv. He quickly repeated the instructions to her and took out his hearing aids so that they could get started. She brushed his long hair, taking extra care not to get her brush stuck in it. When she finished, she put on a new pair of gloves and divided his hair into four ponytails. She giggled at the funny look.

“What?” Steven asked and signed at the same time, chuckling.

She waved him off and started dying his hair. He watched an old rerun of Under the Knife (thank God for captions, he would later say) while she worked. She found herself looking up now and again, following along with Dr. Marcoh’s silly patients. Steven had to nudge her a few times when she got too absorbed in the show. It was good, alright?!

Finally, the Connie finished with Steven’s hair and wrapped it up in a plastic bag, just like he did for her. She tapped him on the shoulder and finger spelled ‘D-O-N-E.’ He gave her a thumbs up and showed her the sign for “finished.” It was kind of like jazz hands, she thought. Steven set another alarm on his phone and motioned her to follow him downstairs to the kitchen. 

 

* * *

 

 

‘Hungry?’ He signed with his eyebrows raised up in a question.

Connie balled her hand into a fist and motioned enthusiastically like she was knocking on an invisible door. Steven chuckled. 

‘P-I-Z-Z-A?’

Connie took a moment to decipher his message and signed ‘yes’ again. Steven fist pumped and said a little “Yes!” under his breath. He grabbed a pizza out of the freezer and started the oven. As he was reading the directions on the box, his mom walked in.

“Hey kids! I got you some-”

She looked at Steven’s bagged head and laughed. 

“Hey Connie, get his attention. I gotta tell him something.”

Connie nodded and reached across the table to tap Steven on the shoulder. When he looked up, she pointed to Mary.

‘What?’ he signed.

‘You forgot.’ She held up the bottle she had in her hands. She signed some more, but it was too quick for Connie to make out. Steven must have caught it, because moments later, he put his head down on the table in exasperation and groaned. Mary giggled some more. Connie wiggled her ears at Steven.

‘I forgot hair L-I-G-H-T-E-N-E-R. Our hair is T-O-O D-A-R-K.’ 

Connie huffed. She didn’t think about that either. The dye probably wouldn’t even show up.

Steven signed to his mom, probably asking what they were supposed to do now, judging by his miserable body language. She signed back while trying to stifle her laughter. She failed. She saw Steven pout and sign ‘stop’ and another sign she assumed was laughing. Mary grinned and gave him a hug. She turned her attention to Connie, but signed along as she spoke.

“You two can wash your hair off in the sink when your timers go off. We’ll see if any of the dye stayed in. If not, we can always try again some other time. With the lightener.”

Both teens nodded solemnly and headed to the sinks. They waited for their timers to go off and rinsed off their hair. Connie first, Steven second.

None of the dye stayed in.

The pair decided to ditch the hair dye for a while and just eat their pizza. Steven had since reinstalled his hearing aids and was now sitting at the kitchen table with Connie. He swished his can of Dr. Mountain around in lazy circles and glanced at Connie.

“Sorry this didn’t work out like we thought it would.”

“That’s okay. I’m-“ she snickered- “dying to try this again sometime.”

Steven groaned.

“I’ve had it up to HAIR with these jokes, Connie.” He said, motioning above his head.

Mary shouted from the living room.

“WOULD YOU TWO CUT IT OUT?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
